


Someplace We've Never Been

by HomesickAlien



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, the ending is too abrupt ! lol, the shmk is a little subdued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-25 23:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17734628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomesickAlien/pseuds/HomesickAlien
Summary: Everyday, no matter how boring and mundane, is made all the better spent thinking of you.





	Someplace We've Never Been

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse me. I might be a little rusty with shumika, and enstars writing in general, but I had a really sudden influx of inspiration.... I wrote this so fast.............. It means a lot to me. I like writing Mika a lot, even if I'm not involved in enstars these days..... I hope it's still good! I'm sure something like this has been written a dozen times before, haha!  
> the title is from [here](https://sopharela.bandcamp.com/track/switzerland), altho there's another Soccer Mommy song I've always wanted to use as a title I guess it'll have to wait another day !! I just felt the softness of this song goes well with the fic....!

He holds up his phone, the sharp, loud, invasive _snap_ that indicates his crimes as he takes a photograph leading him to near fumbling it right out of his hands. Stammering, awkwardly attempting to act normal when he’s so clearly taking up far too much space, too much existence, in the crowded and narrow walkways of the shopping district, he takes in one sharp breath holding tight the device in his hands to his chest. Wordlessly moving forward, just as the world has without his criticisms being heard.

_I want to make something like that._

It reminds him of someone special, someone he hasn’t heard from in quite some time. In fact, he sometimes laments the worthlessness of his own phone, when the one he most wants to hear from is still a bit too inept to give him any depthful conversations in such a distant, far off land. Somewhere far, far outside Mika’s grasps and yet still close enough to home to be a goal for him; he wonders silently as he skips down the street towards the train home, _what kind of wonderful outfits are you seeing there? What kind of wonderful things are you creating, out in France? What kind of beautiful words are you writing?_

He does nothing to hide it, the terribly stupid smile that covers his face. Enough to receive an endless number of teasings from his friend as they meet at the station, who’s always so kind to sustain Mika’s loneliness by taking him home, staying often just for the sake of being present. Mika makes her cute things to wear outside of school, and she salvages his terrible cooking; nothing too fancy, but nothing that’s burnt to an inedible crisp, either.

He’s starting to find it, his balance in the world. Sometimes, it’s the distance placed between them, between him and all his seniors, that he’s had time to think clearly, that he can start to see a place out in the stars for him, too. Somewhere that is only for Mika, that could only exist for Mika, that carefully uplifts his boldness and quiets the self conscious terrors that hold him back in the evening. That tell him not to wake up in the morning, or to keep hiding behind his mentors back; _I’ll surpass him,_ he thought to himself, that first night alone staring blankly into a pristine white ceiling. I’ll surpass God, and then I’ll meet you, once again.

It’s a foolish thought only a mindless child could have, and he’s often given that reassurance from him. _You’re still a child, Kagehira._ It’s fine, not to grow up too fast, but he can’t help but want to grow up big and tall and independent, already. To be properly selfish and self sufficient; he’s still gathering the aspect of adulthood that is learning to rely on others, he thinks.

Although, if there’s one thing he does so love, it’s the way Naru pushes his head down with her hand, ruffling a mess out of his already incomprehensible hair. It reminds him of his seniors who aren’t so present anymore, who aren’t so bright in the sky anymore, who are still just as gentle when they reach out to him. It doesn’t even sting a little bit, these days, when Nazuna sends him the kindest, most worthless messages, asking him to do his best and _get out of bed already, dummy_ , when he’s late for the third day in a row to school.

He’s ready to sleep, as soon as Naru pushes his shoulder to signify their stop has come, for which Mika is too busy daydreaming, and somedays even sleeping, to pay any mind to. She shoves him all the way off the train playfully, her smile as bright as the sun that’s way too contagious to be healthy. His faces lights up a little magnificently, too, that Naru squeals about how handsome a boy this one is. How much nicer he’d look if he kept up that bright eyed smile, and brushed his hair, and dressed properly. _I’ll give you my old clothes,_ she says, _if you keep making me new ones!_

Tonight, she only stays long enough for dinner, preparing for her walk home after finishing the warmest, sweetest, and most soothing cup of tea she’s had so far in her life. Tomorrow nights will be even more wonderful, she’s sure, and she says it to Mika knowing how his heart will skip in the morning, this sly and all knowing smile of a women threatening Mika’s very existence until he nervously laughs away her overwhelming aura. Her house is only a few blocks down the road; _it’s vital that we get a place close to Naru!_ He’d made certain to be clear with Shuu if only on this one factor. It’s most convenient this way.

He readies himself to work when he’s taken her home, setting up his phone awkwardly against an unused machine at his desk. It falls several times, slowly and expectedly of it’s position, before finally holding its position in such a way that looks like it should have fallen immediately. Hard work that comes off as accidents, he thinks, just like his sewing.

Staring into the abyss of the somewhat blurry photo he’d taken during his shopping trip, he waits, and waits, and waits, probably an hour or two for the motivation to create to come to him. Sometimes the spark strikes against the inside of his empty skull, alighting a flame where his brain ought to be, but his hands never move. He just sinks, and sinks, and sinks into his chair until his hands decide to move on their own.

It’s nothing he’s planned out, not like Shuu who thinks deeply about his art to the point of perfection, but instinctively like an animal working with nature. The motion of his hands soothes his constantly rampant and invasive thoughts, about the future, about tomorrow, about his friends and family and love and all kinds of other pathetically simple, pathetically human things. He focuses intently on the needle between his finger, until his brain can no longer form words in his head, and all he can see is the image of it.

_I want to make something like that._

He hums it over, and over again, so as to make it a reality. He wants to reach it, the place where his mentor resides, to create a special place the two of them can call paradise. Even if, as Shuu says, everywhere the two of them call home is all the same as Heaven. Shuu’s warm and God-sent smile when he calls Mika his partner, it burns at Mika’s cheeks and clouds his mind until his eyes lose their focus on his reference. Until he starts to feel like dreaming while wide awake; sleeping before the sun finishes setting; until—

_Ouch…!!_

He pricks his finger, the needle sliding out of his hand when the sound of his phone ringing incessantly startles him. The sound is too loud, for being so close to his ears, but he doesn’t have a second to regret that; his mind is racing through every possible action he could take next. _I need to clean my finger— No, no, before that I should set down this dre— Ah, the phone will stop ringing if I don’t answer it right now!!_

He slams his hand down on the screen, raising it as dramatically as possible to his ear. “Hello!” He shouts, before it rings one last time, the buzz numbing his palms. _I didn’t answer it,_ his mind screams at his as he panics to look at the screen, awkwardly tapping at the button to answer before it fades away. _Damn it._

It takes some time for his mind to process what just happened, at least as long as it takes for a thick and viscous drop of blood to stain his already terribly messy floor. _It’s just decoration_ , he thinks, lifting up the tip of his finger to his lips to color them instead. _They’re kind of dry,_ he starts his walk to the bathroom for two things, now. There’s no point in calling him back, they’ll just be in a losing duel for dominance calling one another at the same time, he’ll give it some time before falling back into that anxiety riddled panic of answering the phone, once again. Or rather, now, the enthusiastic nervousness that comes from hearing Shuu’s voice, again.

Just once a week, that was their promise. Just once a week, to call and catch up and talk fondly as friends do, it would be something to look forward to, to stay alive for. They need quite a lot of those, Mika realizes a bit late in his life, that even when he’s surrounded by the warmth of a dozen kind friends, sometimes the pit in his stomach does well to swallow his heart whole. It’s best to have a reason to make it to Sunday than it is to soullessly wander through life.

He wraps up his finger indelicately, then uselessly applies something to his lips he immediately begins to pick at instead, until he hears the phone ring again from his work space, which is otherwise just his bedroom. A small, cramped apartment that’s as affordable as they come, it’s better than awkwardly mooching off the kindness of Shuu’s parents, he supposes.

“Hello?”

Mika says again, properly this time as he holds the phone calmly to his ear. His voice is even, and his breath is still, but his hands are shaking. No, they always do that, don’t they. He should eat more.

“Mentor!! How have ya been!”

It’s a stupid question that doesn’t go anywhere in retrospect. _Well_. Shuu says. So pointed, and simple, which is unbecoming of him. It doesn’t take long to get Shuu onto his endless spiels, asking, have you seen any inspiring performances lately? Have you been to the theater, lately? Big brother Nazuna took me out to a show the other day, I bet you would’ve liked it.

“Let’s see it together, sometime. Big brother said it’s fine if ya tag along as long as ya keep yer mouth shut.”

He laughs, but Shuu takes it so to heart, rambling his ear off about how vital all his criticisms are. And really, it’s not like they aren’t interesting to Mika, who knows so little even now of this thing they call art; he’s mostly good for performing things that seem so much like mistakes. Just like himself, a mistake in the flesh, graced with the light of an all too benevolent God, who raises him up and has him shine like the stars in the night sky. Maybe someone will be able to point him out in the crowd, someday.

Someone older than elementary school students, anyway.

“Mentor…” Mika says, soft as a feather falling off a crow that’s just learned to fly. “Shuu.”

It’s still odd to say it, the taste of his name is still a bit bitter against his tongue. But it’s a bitterness he’s learning to love more and more everyday, like adults who grow into the love of dark chocolate and wine. He’s growing up, too, he thinks. Someday soon, they’ll be on even grounds, two people who inspire and alight a flame into the others heart, at the edge of their heels, urging them to keep moving forward. To blossom like roses in the summertime.

“I’m starting to fall asleep, ya know…. It’s gettin’ really late, ya know….”

It’s still the afternoon there, Shuu speaks fondly of the coffee he’s having at a cafe just out of the way enough to evade the crowds of the city. _I’m getting better with them,_ he boasts like Mika would ever judge. _I’ll take you here, sometime._ He promises, empty yet full enough that Mika swears he’ll look forward to it.

“I’m gonna fall asleep if ya don’t stop talkin’.....”

Mika holds out that last note, rolling over his head at his desk he’s been sitting uncomfortably watching the time fly by him. It always ends up this way, there’s so many ways to fill up the week that it’s hard to keep up with only one day. His new, and arguably improved Valkyrie, give him such a hassle throughout the school days, and Naru and Anzu are always treating him out to dates that always end up more extravagant than expected, just like his friends to be that way. Jobs are still a constant, and still so busy, and still so difficult to manage, but when Shuu scolds him he promises he’s not overdoing it like back in the days they’d spent together.

“Still,” Mika says, “I miss hearin’ ya scold me in person.”

He laughs a little soullessly, but the other end of the line reminds so silent. The pause is deafening, that Mika thinks, maybe I’ve said the wrong thing again. Idiot, idiot, idiot, he berates himself in his head until the gentle sigh that leaves Shuu’s lips whispers in his ears.

_It sounds to me you don’t really need to hear it from me, anymore._

He can hear the smile in Shuu’s voice, how warm and comfortable it is to be praised, something he’d thought he’d never be able to love in such a way until he’d come to terms with this growing up thing. Everyday he’s getting a little closer to it, he thinks, someday, I’ll see the world the way you’ve come to see it.

“I’m makin’ somethin’ really pretty, Mentor. I saw a real pretty dress when I was out today, I thought it’d fit madonee real well.”

He hears a soft chuckle on the other end of the line that makes his heart beat a little faster, his chest burn a little warmer. His determination is endless, he thinks, as he reaches out his hand to touch the soft fabric that still looks like a mess rather than art. _Maybe I should ask Ryuu-kun-san for advice,_ and then he brushes away the thought; _Shuu will notice how rough it is, I’ll ask Anzu tomorrow, instead._

“Ya better get better at usin’ that phone, ya big dummy! So I can show you when I’m done, that’s yer timelimit, got it!!”

He says it so boldly, as he asserts his goodbyes before Shuu has any opportunity to protest. _I’m gonna show you,_ he thinks, _just how far I can go without yeah…!_

**Author's Note:**

> Comment Please !


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